February Auction Highlights 2026
Welcome to our February 2026 Auction Highlights blog! We have some wonderful old whiskies to tell you about from distilleries including Macallan, Springbank, Bowmore and Glen Grant, so we'd best crack on...
Distillery Bottlings
We'll kick things off with an all-time classic Distillery Bottling: the legendary Gold Bowmore 1964 44-year-old Islay single malt whisky. This stunning whisky was the third and final bottling of the third 1964 series released by the distillery in the 1990s and 2000s, after the original trio of Black Bowmore bottlings (1993-95) and then the first Bowmore Trilogy series (2002-03).
Gold Bowmore was a vatting of three bourbon casks and one Oloroso sherry cask, all filled on the 5th November 1964, but the angels had been (understandably) greedy by the time this was bottled in 2009, and the four casks yielded a total of just 701 bottles at a natural cask strength of 42.4%. This 44-year-old Gold Bowmore was the oldest whisky ever released by the distillery at the time, though that record only lasted until the arrival of Bowmore 1957 a couple of years later in 2011. An utterly magnificent dram, Gold Bowmore’s peat has been mellowed to a thin thread of tarry woodsmoke by nearly four and half decades in wood, leaving the stage clear for an extraordinary palate packed with citrus and exotic fruits.
A short hop over the water to Campbeltown finds us a small batch Longrow 1998 26-year-old released at cask strength by the distillery in 2025 for members of the Springbank Society. This 26-year-old Longrow 1998 matured for 23 years in refill Oloroso sherry butt casks before being transferred for a final three years of ageing in fresh Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead casks, and was bottled without colouring or chill filtration, yielding a total of 485 bottles at its natural cask strength of 56.1%.
We also have a private single cask bottling of Springbank’s excellent 1995 vintage, released as a 30-year-old in 2025. This 1995 Springbank came from Cask 45, which was a refill hogshead, and was bottled at a lip-smacking 45.6% in August 2025. Long-aged Springbank is magical whisky, and at this very approachable strength this 1995 Springbank will be up there with the best recent releases from Campbeltown’s finest.
There's some wonderful Macallan in this month's sale, as ever. Highlights include a fantastic old bottle of Macallan 1965 bottled in 1983 in the old Special Selection series of vintage bottlings that were the immediate predecessors to the classic Macallan 18-year-olds. The Special Selection editions were among the first high end core range Macallans released after the distillery took their official bottlings inhouse around the turn of the 1980s, but the series was quite short-lived and was soon replaced by the more recognisable ‘blue ribbon’ Macallan 18-year-old vintage bottlings in 1984.
These 1960s vintage Macallan 18-year-olds are all absolutely magnificent whiskies from a distillery at the height of its powers, but there's plenty of other fantastic old and new Macallans in this month's sale - check out the full line-up here.
Moving to Grain Whisky, there are some really wonderful long-aged whiskies coming up for grabs. Examples include a very special official bottling of North British 50-year-old Lowland single grain whisky released as a limited edition to celebrate the Edinburgh distillery’s 125th anniversary in 2010. North British was founded in 1885 as a rival to the grain cartel Distillers Company Limited (DCL), but succumbed to the inevitable in 1993, when it was snapped up by industry behemoths Edrington and DCL’s successor IDV. This commemorative 50-year-old North British single grain whisky would have been distilled no later than 1960 and arrived as a limited edition of 500 handsome crystal decanters at its very impressive natural cask strength of 53%.
For the Blended Whisky fans, meanwhile, there's an old bottle of the elusive Johnnie Walker Honour blended Scotch whisky. One of the rarest of the early Johnnie Walker special editions, Johnnie Walker Honour was introduced in the 1990s but was a short-lived edition and is now extremely hard to find and consequently much in demand from Johnnie Walker collectors.
Johnnie Walker Honour was rumoured to be a 30-year-old blend but this has never been confirmed and seems improbable, although as a prestige special edition it is very possible that some 30-year-old whiskies were used in the blend, particularly as owners UDV/Diageo had a much older inventory at the time.
Fans of older blends will also be keeping an eye on a lovely old bottle of White Horse blended Scotch whisky, this example was bottled in 1959. The White Horse blend at this time would have contained whisky not only from Peter Mackie’s Craigellachie and Lagavulin distilleries, but is also likely to include some malt whisky from the legendary Malt Mill distillery, which Mackie had constructed on the grounds of Lagavulin in 1908 in a vain attempt to copy Laphroaig. Malt Mill was in operation until 1960, the year after this whisky was bottled, ensuring these old White Horse bottlings from the postwar period are highly prized by aficionados for their content as well as their beautiful design aesthetic.
Away from Scotch whisky, we have a historic Bourbon in the form of a magnificent old US pint bottle (473ml) of Kentucky Tavern 14-year-old bourbon distilled in 1916 at the Glenmore Distillery in Kentucky (registered distillery KY #24) and bottled in bond at 100 US Proof (50%) in 1930, a few years before the end of Prohibition in the USA. Glenmore was founded in 1849 and was formerly known as the R. Monarch distillery, but had been taken over and renamed by Northern Irishman James Thompson in 1901 after the previous ownership went bust.
The whisky in this Glenmore’s Kentucky Tavern 14-year-old was distilled by H.S. Barton, who was Thompson’s brother-in-law and held the positions of distillery manager and master distiller from 1901-1919. Thompson’s family controlled the distillery until the 1990s, and the Kentucky Tavern brand still exists to this day. The Glenmore distillery still exists as well and is owned by Sazerac nowadays, but has been used exclusively as a bottling plant since 2009. This remarkable bottle of 1916 Kentucky Tavern 14-year-old was bottled in 1930 when Prohibition had yet to be repealed - in this period, the Glenmore distillery was what was known as a concentration warehouse, bottling and distributing ‘medicinal’ bourbons.
We have an equally venerable old rye whiskey in this auction: Corning Co.'s 13-year-old Old Quaker Rye 1917, which was also bottled in 1930. Corning distillery in Peoria, Illinois had been taken over by Schenley Industries in the early 20th century and the distillery was closed for Prohibition - this Old Quaker Rye was bottled in Pennsylvania at the now defunct Finch distillery at 100 US proof, aka 50%. Old Quaker was one of the best-selling whiskeys in the US in the early decades of the 20th century - this amazing embossed bottle would have been a familiar sight in bars and speakeasies across the country.
Finally, and leaving whisk(e)y behind altogether, this month's sale has some absolute treasures for Cognac fans. We'll start with a bottle of the amazing Hennessy Extra cognac, a prestige cuvée made with the oldest and finest of the cognacs in the company’s legendary Paradis cellar. First introduced in the early 1920s, Hennessy Extra sat above the Hennessy XO editions as the pinnacle of Hennessy’s range until the end of the 1970s. This is a 68cl bottle released with imperial measurements on the label and dates from towards the end of the 1970s, shortly before the Extra was discontinued and replaced by Hennessy Paradis.
Speaking of which - we also have an old bottle of the sumptuous long-aged prestige Hennessy Paradis cognac! Hennessy Paradis was first introduced in 1979, taking over from the old Hennessy Extra series as the top core range bottling from the house, which has been the largest of the Big Four cognac producers since the end of the 19th century. This old bottle of Hennessy Paradis has packaging consistent with the late 1980s / early 1990s editions of this magnificent long-aged cognac.
Hennessy Paradis takes its name from the company’s Paradis cellar, where the oldest and greatest of Hennessy’s mind-blowing collection of ancient old eaux-de-vie slumber for decades before being blended in very small batches for Hennessy Paradis and other luxury prestige cuvees. This incredible cognac was the best Hennessy that money could buy before the arrival of the Richard Hennessy edition around 1996.
For more adventurous brandy fans looking for something a bit different, we have a bottle of Montrose Reserve Lot 01 Hors d’Age Grande Champagne cognac. This ultra-premium prestige cognac was a limited edition released by the Grand Cru Bordeaux producer Chateau Montrose in 2014. Chateau Montrose Reserve Lot 01 was an edition of just 3000 bottles and was a blend of equal parts 1930s, 1950s and 1970s vintage cognacs sourced from two top Grande Champagne cognac producers. This was the claret house’s first excursion into prestige cognacs but sadly the experiment was never repeated, making this Montrose cognac a truly unique release.
Independent Bottlers
We'll get started on our Independent Bottlings in style with a small batch Glen Grant 1958 Speyside single malt whisky released by independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail in 2006, when the whisky would have been at least 47 years old. No-one does long-aged Speyside like G&M, and this bottling is one of the long string of majestic 1950s drams from the likes of Glenlivet, Mortlach and Macallan that appeared in the first years of this century on what seemed like a weekly basis. A glorious old Speyside that packs a huge flavour punch for its 40% strength.
Speaking of which, there's also a top class Glenburgie 1961 released by independent bottlers Gordon & MacPhail as part of the range of licensed bottlings that later became known as the Distillery Labels series. This edition was released in 1995, making the whisky 33 or 34 years old, and was one of only two known bottlings of Glenburgie 1961, with the other being a G&M Connoisseurs Choice edition released the same year. A delicious old Speyside showing generous sherry influence and outstanding complexity for its 40% strength.
Over on Islay, we've got an exceptionally rare and very famous Laphroaig 1968 26-year-old Islay single malt whisky released in the mid-1990s by independent bottlers Hart Brothers for their Rare Vintage range. This 26-year-old Laphroaig 1968 is one of only a handful of known bottlings from the 1968 vintage, and appeared a few years after the more famous 1980s examples bottled by G&M for Sestante and Donini. Bottled at a characterful but easy-drinking 43%, this Hart Brothers Laphroaig 1968 enjoys a very lofty reputation thanks to the distillery’s gorgeous citrus and exotic fruit flavours, waxy palate, and minerally peatsmoke notes.
Up in the Highlands, meanwhile, we've got a single cask Ben Nevis 1977 Highland malt released in the early 1990s as part of the independent bottler Cadenhead’s rare Distillery Label Cask Strength range, which featured an unusual (for Cadenhead’s) white label with a line drawing of the distillery. These particular Cadenhead’s releases were often bottled for other retailers / export markets and their tall, clear glass bottle and white label presentation was almost opposite to the familiar Cadenhead’s famous black label editions in their dumpy brown bottles.
This cask strength Ben Nevis 1977 came from single cask 217 and weighs in at a particularly massive natural cask strength of 60%. Only a dozen or so casks of Ben Nevis’s 1977 vintage were ever bottled, and Cadenhead’s were responsible for almost all of them, with a string of excellent examples appearing in the early to mid 1990s. These are big, powerful Highland malts, showing a complex mix of citrus, floral, spicy, fruity and mineral notes that are rarely, if ever, encountered nowadays.
Closed Distilleries
We'll begin our Closed Distilleries highlights with the remarkable single cask Caperdonich 1970 38-year-old Speyside single malt released at full strength without colouring or chill filtration by indie bottlers Signatory Vintage in 2008 as part of their Cask Strength Collection. This 38-year-old Caperdonich 1970 matured full term in single cask 3335, an American oak hogshead cask that yielded 145 bottles at its tantalising natural cask strength of 43.5%. Just like its sister distillery Glen Grant, Caperdonich can withstand very long ageing and still be superb whisky, and Signatory only get their fancy lacquered boxes out for the really great stuff - this is an easy-drinking, elegant but fantastically complex old Speyside.
Elsewhere, we have an official bottle of Lochside’s 10-year-old Highland single malt whisky released in the late 1980s or early 1990s. First introduced in 1987, Lochside 10-year-old was one of the only official bottlings from this splendid Highland distillery, and as this example is a 75cl bottle it must have been released before 1992, when the EU switched to 70cl bottles as standard and Lochside was closed by new owners Allied Distillers.
These old official Lochside 10-year-olds from the turn of the 1990s were fine examples of the lighter side of the Highlands. They were all quite gentle, grassy, mediumweight whiskies, almost more akin to a Lowland style malt, and although there was some batch variation the best of them have a marvellous oily texture carrying delicious tropical fruit notes alongside the hay and milk chocolate biscuit flavours.
Moving on to weightier Highlanders, there's also a very famous sherry cask Brora 30-year-old single malt whisky from the legendary 1972 vintage, this was released in 2003 as an exclusive single cask bottling by Douglas Laing for chain retailers The Whisky Shop. This 30-year-old Brora 1972 came from a single sherry cask that yielded 220 bottles at its natural cask strength of 47.4% and was one of a handful of top class Douglas Laing bottlings for the chain. Douglas Laing had some outstanding 1972 Brora sherry casks on their hands at the time, and this bottling came out in the same year as a pair of terrific Douglas Laing Platinum editions and the famous ‘Brorageddon’ bottling for the Plowed Society.
Over on Islay, meanwhile, there's the Port Ellen 1977 Islay single malt released by indie bottlers Gordon & MacPhail in 1992 for their Connoisseurs Choice range, which was in its imperious ‘Old Map Label’ phase at the time. These old G&M Port Ellens from 1977 pack a deceptively powerful peaty punch despite their 40% strength, and retain powerful sooty charcoal notes alongside the classic citrus and smoked fish flavours. A very old school, oily, dirty Islay style.
Up in the Highlands there's a single cask Glen Albyn 1979 28-year-old Highland single malt whisky released in 2008 by independent bottlers The Scotch Malt Whisky Society at full cask strength with the SMWS code 69.14 and the soubriquet Complex and Delightful. Interestingly, a second bottling was issued by the SMWS with the 69.14 code three years later after a cock-up within the Society’s inventory records. Glen Albyn is one of the lost Inverness distilleries, and is known for its austere and sometimes difficult old school Highland profile, with unusual chalky, minerally or sour/bitter notes creeping in alongside the fruit and biscuity flavours. For lovers of this old school austerity, few distilleries can match Glen Albyn.
Single Casks
We'll start our Single Casks section with some official bottlings, like this single cask Ben Nevis 1990 25-year-old Highland single malt whisky bottled at its full cask strength of 61.3% in 2015. This single cask was a commemorative bottling for Mr T. Taketsuru, the distillery’s chairman (and deputy chairman of owners Nikka). Taketsuru had overseen the renovation and expansion of Ben Nevis after the Nikka takeover in 1989, and filled this remade hogshead cask in September 1990 with the first new single malt spirit produced by the reopened distillery, which had been in mothballs since 1986. Sadly, Mr Taketusuru died aged 90 in 2014, but this outstanding 25-year-old single cask was a fine and fitting tribute to the phenomenal work he and his colleagues put into rejuvenating the distillery.
There's also a pair of superb official single cask Ardbegs, beginning with Ardbeg 2007 15-year-old Islay malt whisky released by the distillery at full cask strength without colouring or chill filtration in 2022. This 15-year-old Ardbeg 2007 came from single cask 2546, which was a first fill bourbon barrel that yielded 224 bottles at its rather hefty natural cask strength of 58.2%.
There's also a single cask Ardbeg 2006 16-year-old released by the distillery at full cask strength without colouring or chill filtration in 2023. Launched on the Islay Festival’s Ardbeg Day at the 2023 Feis Ile, this 16-year-old Ardbeg 2006 came from single cask 2787, which was a second fill Oloroso sherry cask that was originally intended for Ardbeg Uigeadail but was retained due to its exceptional quality and yielded 623 bottles at an extremely sturdy natural cask strength of 56.8%.
From the independent bottlers, meanwhile, there’s a rather older single sherry cask Ardbeg 1991 33-year-old Islay single malt whisky released in 2024 by indie bottlers Signatory Vintage without colouring or chill filtration as part of the ultra-prestige Symington’s Choice sub-series of their Rare Reserve Cask Strength Collection series. This 33-year-old Ardbeg matured in a first fill Oloroso sherry cask, as can be easily surmised by a glance of its rich deep mahogany colour, and turned out a total of 398 bottles at a hearty 52.6% natural cask strength. Long-aged sherried Ardbeg is up there with the greatest experiences single malt whisky has to offer, so we expect fierce bidding for this one.
We also have some wonderful single cask Islay whiskies from secretive bottlers The Syndicate, a group of private individuals and whisky industry insiders based on Islay. While they are not exactly prolific bottlers - Whiskybase lists just 30 releases by the group since 1988 - every single whisky The Syndicate release has been of exceptional quality.
This 35-year-old Laphroaig 1988 bottled in 2023 is a case in point: this was the eighth release by The Syndicate from a carefully-stewarded batch of 1988 vintage casks of Laphroaig, the first of which appeared as a 12-year-old in 2000. Cask 9208 is a glorious dram, showing elegant smoke and delicious Laphroaig fruitiness, but sadly yielded just 113 bottles at its natural cask strength of 45.8%, which is equivalent to 80-proof in the old imperial measures.
There's also a pair of single casks from the spectacular Lagavulin 1979 15-year-old Islay whiskies released at full strength by The Syndicate in the mid-1990s. Bottled at their devastating 58.2% and 59.2% natural cask strengths, these 15-year-old Lagavulin 1979s were among the first whiskies bottled by the Syndicate from their remarkable batch of 1979 casks, and their labels used the same marketing text and quote from William Blake’s poem The Strange Horse of Suinabhal as Lagavulin’s official bottlings of the day.
Despite the group’s inside connections, this was all deemed a bit too cheeky by Lagavulin’s owners, the Diageo predecessor United Distillers and Vintners, so this label was discontinued for future releases - indeed, coincidentally or not there were actually two Syndicate Lagavulin 15-year-olds at exactly the same strength of 59.2%, so it’s possible that the rest of that batch had to be relabelled, making that particular bottle even scarcer. Whatever the truth of the matter, these are fabulous drams for collectors as well as for Islay whisky fans.
That's it for this months Auction Highlights blog - check out the full sale here, Good Luck and Happy Bidding!